If a ship at sea suffers a failure in such a vital measurement instrument, it can be a serious situation. It risks adding costs in fuel and also potentially incurring fines for exceeding emissions limits.
Unlike a failure or maintenance task on a shore-based facility, a servicing issue at sea isn’t just a case of calling up your vendor’s support team. Many miles from land, all you have are the resources and skills on board if anything goes wrong. Neither of the two main options, returning to the home port or seeking an alternative port for repairs, are attractive. Both involve delays and the alternative port may not have the skilled service engineers you need
With berths in short supply at many international ports – delaying arrival could mean missing your slot, risking further financial losses as you become unable to either load or unload goods.
These days, digital servicing technologies have revolutionized how faults and services are manged on land-based facilities and the same is increasingly true of maritime industries. In fact, with their ability to offer support remotely, bringing servicing knowledge and diagnostic abilities to otherwise inaccessible areas, digital servicing could have been tailor made for getting a ship at sea back in full working order.
This type of anytime, anywhere support ensures vessels can continue to operate and remain compliant with all the relevant regulations – even when thousands of miles from the nearest port.
Making use of ever faster and more capable communications, access to technical expertise is now available in variety of formats. These include technologies such as Dynamic QR Codes and Augmented Reality, allowing remote technicians to work right beside onboard engineers.